What is RTO West?
RTO West is a proposed new bureaucracy that is being organized in response to a FERC mandate. RTO West would replace the present regionally-controlled electricity transmission system in the Northwest. This new “regional transmission organization” would take control of the region s existing federal and private power grid built with local revenues to meet the needs of local customers and allocate transmission rights to the highest bidders in a competitive market. RTO West would change how power prices are regulated and would control both federally- and privately-owned electricity transmission in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada and Utah. Millions of dollars in new costs would be incurred in creating and maintaining this bureaucracy.
